


Professor Layton's Piano

by orphan_account



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Azran Legacy Spoilers, Gen, Lost Future Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 02:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18907675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One of the professor's students - Amy Cox - asks for a piano lesson. Of course, Hershel accepts.





	Professor Layton's Piano

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: I've changed the years around that I mention in the story. I didn't really pay attention to how I wrote them in so I must've written them wrong. They make sense to me now, I think. Hopefully I've got it right-ish.

“Excuse me, Professor?”

Hershel stopped packing up his things and turned around. It was one of his students, Amy, calling him. He smiled at her. He thought of her as very attentive and intelligent. She was quiet but she listened to what seemed like every word of his lectures. Whenever she did have an opinion or question in the lecture, it was always something well thought out and insightful.

“What can I do for you, Miss Cox?”

“Well.” She looked down, seemingly embarrassed about something. “I heard you were very good at piano.”

Hershel chuckled, his face becoming flushed. Not many people knew he could play the piano. “You are correct, my dear. But where did you find that out?”

Amy smiled. “I happened to hear it from your… apprentice, was it? The little boy who sits in your lectures sometimes. He wears a blue hat. He’s very sweet.”

“Ah, yes. Luke.”

“Oh yeah, he had told me his name but I forgot. Sorry.”

“Oh, no need to apologise.” Hershel tipped his hat. “So, are you interested in piano too?”

“Yes!” There was a sparkle in Amy’s eyes that Hershel didn’t see very often. Usually, she kept to herself and didn’t draw much attention. “I absolutely love it! I’ve tried teaching myself but it’s very difficult.”

“Yes, quite.” 

Hershel remembered wanting to learn the piano for so long, ever since he was a young boy. But his parents didn’t have the money to buy him a piano nor any lessons. But, once he left Stansbury and got a part-time job in London while studying at Gressenheller, he could afford to buy a piano. He was ecstatic. He told Claire all about it when it arrived and she taught him the basics. Ever since then, he had strived to teach himself to play and read music. It took an awfully long time but he was determined to succeed. For Claire and her love for piano and for himself and all those years wanting exactly what he had right then.

“Professor? Are you okay?”

Hershel snapped himself out of his daydream. “Yes. I’m sorry, Miss Cox. I was just reminiscing of when I first learned the piano.”

“Oh, how long ago was it?” She seemed genuinely interested.

“I think it has been nine years almost.”

“Wow,” she whispered in awe. “You must be a professional then!”

Hershel blushed once again, not used to this many compliments. Amy had seemed to come out of her shell since the topic of piano had come up. He was happy to see it. “I wouldn’t say that-”

“Oh, stop!” The girl laughed. “You’re always so modest! Please, can you teach me? That was what I was meaning to ask before.”

“Oh.” Hershel was reminded of the time that Luke had asked to be his apprentice. They both had the same determination in their eyes and he couldn’t say no. What was one lesson anyway? “Of course, my dear. I have my piano at my apartment so you would need to meet me there if that is alright with you.”

Amy felt slightly uncomfortable going to her professor’s house but she knew he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate. Professor Layton was a true gentleman and he wouldn’t even dream of doing anything like that. “Um, yes, that would be okay. Are you free this weekend? Sunday, maybe?”

“Hold on one moment.” 

Hershel flicked through his diary which had been written in and updated by Luke since he didn’t have the time to always write in it. Sunday was blank of teaching duties. He had his own projects to work on then but he could move those aside for Amy. She had seemed so passionate about learning piano that he knew it would be worth the setback. Besides, a true gentleman never refuses the request of their student. 

“Yes, Sunday would be fine. However, I can only spare an hour or two.”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Amy was so sure he would say no as the professor always seemed to be busy with something. She was just grateful to get any time at all.

“I could do from midday and see where we go from there. I will write down my address too so you know how to get to me.”

“Great,” Amy smiled, taking the slip of paper from him. “I’ll see you Sunday then.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Hershel tipped his hat, smiling.

Once Amy had left the room, the reality of this suddenly made itself clear. Hershel gulped. He was fine with lecturing about archaeology as that was his speciality and he had been doing it for years. Teaching piano, on the other hand, was a different story. What if he did it wrong? Or made a mistake in front of her? He rarely played in front of other people. He preferred to keep his performances private. How would he cope, having to teach a student? He took a deep breath.

_ It will be okay,  _ he thought to himself.  _ She won’t be disappointed if you make a mistake. You’re not perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, even you. _

He smiled. That was something that Claire had once said to him when he had made many mistakes in his first lesson with her. He never usually got angry in front of Claire so it was a shock to her but she handled it well. She kept calm, knowing he was mad at himself for not being perfect. She got through to him in the end and Hershel had always been grateful for that. Whenever he made a mistake, not just playing the piano, her voice would tell him that it’s okay to make mistakes and it doesn’t mean that you’re not good at what you do. 

He just hoped Claire was right this time.

 

****

 

“Ah, right on time!” Hershel smiled as he opened the door to Amy on Sunday afternoon.

“I was actually worried I would be late,” Amy laughed nervously.

“I wouldn’t have minded. Would you care for some tea?”

Amy didn’t really like tea but she didn’t want to refuse the professor. Not after he gave up his Sunday to teach her piano. “Um, sure. Thank you, Professor.”

She sat awkwardly in his living room while Hershel went to the kitchen to make two cups of tea. She looked around at all the trinkets and archaeological finds he had collected over the years. She smiled. How wonderful it must be to travel with Professor Layton! 

She noticed a photo framed on his desk. With a quick glance to make sure Hershel didn’t see, she crept over to take a closer look. Three people were smiling at the camera. A man who was clearly the Professor, a boy with a blue cap which she had now learned was Luke. And another woman. She had long brown hair, a yellow jacket and a pink bow. Amy blushed. Was that the professor’s girlfriend? Of course, she wouldn’t expect him to tell her anything like that. They weren’t too close as she only saw him at his lectures.

There was another photo next to it though. A polaroid of a girl with ginger hair and glasses and what looked like a younger version of the professor. Amy stopped herself from saying “aww!” aloud. He looked too sweet! The woman looked like she was wearing a lab coat. Who was this? She looked at the two women, confused. Were they both his friends or was one his girlfriend? She wasn’t sure. They both looked happy to be with him.

“Do you want your tea now, Miss Cox? I can put it on the table if you would like.”

“Ah! Sorry, Professor. I-” She hadn’t heard him come in. Will he be mad at her.

“Oh, no need to apologise.” Hershel gave her a smile and placed both cups on the table before making his way back to her. “It is natural to become curious in situations like this. I have done the same as you before. Photos are very interesting objects, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh, yes.” Amy was just relieved he wasn’t angry. “I was just wondering who these people were?”

Hershel looked at the framed photo and smiled fondly. “This is my apprentice and assistant with me. Luke, who you’ve met before, and Emmy. She left me one year ago. She was a great asset and always lifted my spirits.”

“She sounded like a great person.” Amy had her doubts that Emmy had been the professor’s girlfriend. She seemed a bit young for him.

“Yes, she was.”

“So, who’s this?” She delicately picked up the polaroid.

Hershel’s smile didn’t falter but he seemed sadder somehow. “Yes. This was my girlfriend, Claire. She-” He gulped, holding tears back. Amy reached forward to offer a comforting hand but Hershel waved it away. “It’s alright, my dear. She was taken from us nine years ago now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Professor. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Hershel chuckled, but it sounded quite hollow. “It’s quite alright. I don’t blame you for wanting to know.”

“Nine years ago…” That number rang a bell. “Wasn’t that when you started learning piano?”

“Yes. She was the one who taught me.”

Amy smiled. “Wow, she must have been talented then.”

Hershel’s smile grew wider and he reached for his hat. “She was very talented and not just with piano. She was adept in sciences and I’m sure she would have become very well known in her field if not for the… ah, never mind.”

Amy knew not to push it. She had a feeling what would have come next. “I wish I could’ve met her. She could’ve taught me piano too!”

Hershel laughed, Amy’s optimism lifting his spirits just slightly. “She could have. I would’ve liked to witness that. Speaking of, would you like to start your lesson?” He hoped that the nerves of teaching would distract him from the memories of Claire.

“Okay, Professor.”

They didn’t spend too long on the basics since Amy knew much of this already. Her mum had an old grand piano in the house a few months back and when Amy voiced her eagerness to learn, she found someone to tune it and bring it back to its former glory. She didn’t have time to teach her regularly as her work took up a lot of her time but she gave Amy a book on the basics of piano and some sheet music to practice with. Despite her intelligence in other areas, learning sheet music proved to be difficult so she gave up quickly. She could follow the book quite well though but she just didn’t know how to take it further. University quickly became her priority so the piano took a backseat until she heard Luke Triton talking about how good the professor was at the piano. She was reluctant to neglect her studies but she knew that it would be worth it to know how to play an instrument. It was like fate that all of this had happened the way it did.

“You’re doing very well, Miss Cox,” Hershel praised to which Amy blushed hard.

“Th- thank you, Professor. But I’m terrible at sheet music.” 

Hershel shook his head, smirking. He saw a great deal of himself in her. She was intelligent, had a love for archaeology and the piano, and had a tendency to put herself down when someone else praised her. “No need to put yourself down, Miss Cox. We all have our weaknesses but that doesn’t mean they undermine our strengths. Sheet music is just something you need to work on. You are more than capable with everything else you have demonstrated for me.”

Amy didn’t quite know how to respond. “Thank you,” she mumbled, smiling up at him. He truly is a gentleman.

“Now, I have a piece of sheet music here. It might look intimidating at first but we will focus on one part at a time. Alright?”

Amy nodded and Hershel pulled out a short piece of music but there were some parts that Amy was nervous about. She had always had difficulty with playing different melodies at the same time. Basic chords she could just about handle but anything above that confused her. 

Hershel chuckled, seeing Amy’s expression. “No need to worry about the left hand, which is this part here.” He pointed to the notes on the lines next to the bass clef. “We can focus on the melody for now which is at the top, see?”

Amy took a deep breath. She could do this. “Right. Let’s do it.”

It took the best part of their session but, in the end, Amy could almost play the whole song with both hands. She messed up sometimes but Hershel was there to calm her before she could get too frustrated with herself. 

Amy gasped as she played the last few notes. This was the first time that she had played the whole way through without making one mistake. If it wasn’t for the professor, she would have given up long ago. “I did it!”

“Yes, you did. That took a lot of patience. I’m glad you managed to keep practising despite the mistakes you may have made before.”

“Me too,” Amy smiled, genuinely surprised that she had managed to do it, despite the song only being short. “What was the song called anyway?”

Hershel noticed that he hadn’t written the song’s name at the top of the piece of paper. “Ah. It is a song that an old student of mine used to play. It is called the Song of the Sea. There are other parts to it but I think we’ll leave that for another time.”

Amy nodded, already eager to learn the other parts of the song. 

Hershel noticed her expression and chuckled. “Would next Sunday work for you, Miss Cox?”

“That sounds great!” She looked at the clock on Hershel’s wall. “Oh, it’s almost two o’clock. I hope I haven’t kept you from your lunch.”

Hershel didn’t usually eat lunch, either being busy in his projects, teaching duties, or finding clues for another case. But he suddenly realised how hungry he really was. He could possibly have enough time for something light before he returned to his duties.

“No need to apologise. You haven’t kept me. I will perhaps have something to eat later. You should eat something too, in fact.”

“I do feel hungry, actually. I might pick something up from the shop on my way home. But make sure you eat, Professor! I know how you usually skip out on meals because you’re too busy.”

Hershel had heard about the (true) rumours that he didn’t eat as much or as well as he should and he blushed. Being faced with his bad habits was more concrete. 

“Would you like to hear me promise such a thing?” He smirked, feeling as if he knew the answer.

“Yes! And I’m not leaving until you promise.” She crossed her arms and tried to look sternly at him but her face cracked into a smile despite herself.

Hershel was reminded of Flora, who made him eat lunch when she was at home on the weekends with him. She was over at a friend’s house this afternoon and would be back later. He smiled. “I promise I will eat something, Miss Cox.”

She smiled, standing up. “Good. I can get going now then. Have a nice day, Professor!”

“You too, Miss Cox.”

Hershel walked with Amy until his front door and waved her off.

He smiled. He was happy that his students seemed to care about him and admired him so much. He had more friends than he realised. 


End file.
